Trying to boil away a swimming pool was a boring task. Beginner level and boring.
I sat beside the water, and while the pockets of heat I created within slowly ate through it, I watched Lizzie teleport across the room, gathering the items Elessa pointed at. She didn't lie about her powers being weak. With every jump, sweat gathered on her forehead.
I never understood why powers that affect your own body were so much harder to maintain. I could set fire to the world while casually sipping on a cocktail, while Liz looked like she ran for miles every time she moved a couple feet.
Elessa turned to face me. She was oddly quiet during the whole exercise, like she was listening for something.
"How is the boiling coming along Avalynn?" She asked calmly.
"I'm not sure. I don't think the water level changed much, but I'm trying my best." I said, carefully watching my every word. I had to look competent, but unexperienced, and that's a hell of an act to pull off.
"I see you made heat sources in the water. An intriguing decision." She walked towards me, waving a timeout for Liz, who happily collapsed onto a bench.
"Well, I'm supposed to be a big kettle, aren't I? I think this is how they work."
"But why multiple? Aren't they hard to maintain?" She looked truly curious about my method. I shrugged.
"Water boils at a fairly low temperature, so it's not that hard to keep up a bunch of heat sources. It just takes a long time to get through all of it, and that's the tiring part."
Elessa sat beside me, carefully observing the water. Her eyes lingered on the ripples caused by the bubbling.
I noticed that the end of her dress fell into the pool, slowly drinking up the water.
"Your dress's getting wet." I pointed out.
She wasn't alarmed in the slightest. She watched for moments as the water creeped up her skirt, before pulling it out.
She smiled at me, then flicked her hand at the dress.
Water droplets flew out of the fabric, landing back in the pool, like rain. My eyes went wide.
"You're a warlock?" I asked, accidentally breaking my magic in the pool. This was the limit of my focus.
She gave me a knowing smile.
"Ever since I was a little girl, I was drawn to water. The oceans, the rivers… and taking very long baths."
She dipped her fingers in the pool, and soon, waves started licking her hand, up to her elbow.
"One day I discovered I could command it." The water circled in the pool; a hungry vortex. I wanted to crawl back to get away from danger, but I stopped myself. I was guessing this was a test, so I had to get through it.
Suddenly the water shot upwards, splattering on the ceiling with a loud noise, before falling back to its place, covering me in the cold liquid head to toe. I stood up, shaking like a dog, but Elessa caught my wrist, and pulled me back down, so our eyes were level.
"You may govern the flames of Hell itself, but dare not forget about its famous rival, lest you drown in sorrow."
She stared at me, and I think this was the first moment Elessa showed me her true colors. Her face grew cold, her eyes deadly.
"Never threaten my family again, Avalynn Thorn."
She strode out of the room, grabbing Lizzie by her arm, and leading her out as well. Liz was confused, but she didn't dare to go against her teacher.
I quietly sat beside the pool, wet and thinking. Was Elessa angry because I scared Sin a little? How would she even know about that? Did I just screw all my further investigations on the first damned day of the job?
I had no good answers, so I put them in the shit-to-deal-with-later pile in my brain.
I got up and superheated my aura, drying myself. I wandered out the room and lockers, looking for a place to go. Should I just go back to the dorms? But how?
I looked around in the dark, empty corridor, trying really hard to remember which way lead to the elevator, but I think my brain was still trying to restart after this little incident with the Queen of Everything-Around-Here.
I summoned a couple fliminas – tiny, cold-flame fairies, akin to fireflies – for comfort, and started scrolling through the contacts on my phone. Did I even get someone's number? I couldn't remember. I nearly gave up, when I saw Sin's name appear on screen. Amazing. The one person I don't want to talk to right now. When did he even gave me his number?
I closed the app and went to the internet to find the contact info of the school.
I looked through their website before, it was nice and modern, and it turns out, even had a mobile friendly version, with all kinds of social media links. Damned leeches, trying to appeal to the teens.
But I can't deny that it was handy.
I quickly found the number of the receptionist (I haven't even seen an office in the building, but never mind) and tapped it. It rang for a bit, then a strange voice answered.
"Hello. Thank you for calling Blackblood Academy, where limitless knowledge is just a bite away. We regret to inform you that due to a change of staff, the phone operators are currently unavailable outside of school hours. Please accept our most sincere apologies. Please try calling us again between 8 PM and 3 AM, so that we can humbly provide you with an answer, that…"
I stopped the robotic recording. I searched the website for other means of communication, but I only found an email. Chances are, that's not going to be answered until tomorrow either.
Damn it all to Hell.
I reluctantly went back to Sin's number, hoping that he would and would not pick it up at the same time.
"Who's calling?" He sounded way different. It was eerie. And who picks up their phone like this?
"Avalynn." I answered. I heard the sound of fabrics shifting. Was he in bed already? No way.
"Oh, Ava. Did you reconsider my offer?"
"I'm lost."
He stopped for a second, then laughed. In a mocking way.
"No time for pleasantries, huh? Can you tell me where you are?"
"At the pool."
"Which one?"
"You have multiple?" I asked, slightly shocked. Just how much money did they put into this school?
"Yeah, one in the basement and one on the roof.
I bit back a 'fuck you' that really wanted to escape. I shouldn't insult my escape plan.
"It's the basement one."
"Hmm… that's too complicated to explain. Wait there, I'll get you in a couple minutes."
"Okay."
I hung up, only later thinking about how normal people actually say bye at the end of conversations. Well, what's done is done.
Sin did show up after a couple minutes of waiting. He was wearing the same clothes as in school, but his hair was messy, and he looked confused.
"No wonder you're lost, what are you doing here?" He asked.
"I got out of the room looking for an exit?"
"Yeah, but this is the dark side, how did you get in here?"
"The dark side?" It was my turn for confusion.
"Yeah, this is the place where vampires live." He pointed at the door." How did you get through that?"
I pulled my bracelet out of my pocket. I took it off for P.E., but it still worked. I probably won't put it back on.
Sin looked at it. He drew his brows together as he was thinking. Not quite the poker face his mother has.
"I should've guessed you're staying at the dorm." He said mostly to himself. "Come, I'll lead you back to it."
Something was suspicious about him. He hasn't made any snarky remarks, or over the top theatrics. I was expecting something along the lines of 'the knight coming to save the princess' and other bullshit like that. Was this even Cain Blackblood?
The pools turned out to have two exists. One that leads to the school, and an other to the 'dark side', that was barely used.
As we stepped inside the school I suddenly remembered the way.
"I'll get back on my own from here." I said to him with confidence.
"All the way to the dorms?" He asked. I shook my head. I forgot about that part. "Then just come with me."
So we continued our path through the building.
"Why do I have your number?" I asked him in the elevator.
"I saved it in your phone while you were eating." He said, like it was the most natural thing in the world. But I was too tired to get angry at him for touching my phone.
"Ah, okay."
He looked at me, obviously expecting a different response.
We got out of the elevator, and went in a long corridor that wasn't familiar to me.
"How was your training with mom?
"Depends on how you look at it. She had threatened to kill me, but she recognized my talent. So good, I guess."
I felt Sin's aura get denser. Why was he upset?
"Why did she do it?"
"I'm not sure. She said I was threatening her family. Guess she wasn't happy about our little fire dance at my intro."
"That's not it." I looked at him with slight disbelief on my face. "I'm not a child, Ava, I don't go running for mommy when things get scary. I handle it. And to be honest, I'd say it was more of a fascinating experience than a scary one. I've never been so close to flames before without being actively on fire."
I felt like he was telling the truth, so I didn't push the subject.
"Yeah, my flames are special. I control them. Fully. The only way you'd be burning is if I wanted to set you on fire."
He thought about that for a moment.
"That's good to know." He said.
"That I can control myself?"
"That you didn't want to hurt me."
It was my turn to go silent.
When we got to the dorm he showed me how to find my room, then we said goodbyes. He quickly left to get back to the safety of his room before sunrise.
I knew Anne wanted a detailed report, but I was exhausted. I sent her a quick message to let her know that I'm still alive, then took a hot shower and got into bed, trying not to overthink every little thing I went through today.
It was most certainly one hell of a first day of school.